1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electronic timepiece with an internal antenna.
2. Related Art
Electronic timepieces that receive signals from positioning information satellites such as GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites to display accurate time are known from the literature. Such electronic timepieces have an antenna and a storage battery that feeds the antenna. See, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2011-21929.
When the storage battery is located close to the antenna in an electronic timepiece that has an internal antenna and a storage battery that feeds the antenna, the storage battery may interfere with signals from a positioning information satellite and reduce the strength of the signal received by the antenna. Maintaining good signal reception performance by the antenna can therefore be difficult.
Analog electronic timepieces that have a stepper motor usually have a magnetic screen that magnetically shields the stepper motor to prevent the stepper motor from operating incorrectly due to magnetic field effects. The magnetic screen may also absorb electromagnetic waves, including the radio waves from positioning information satellites. As a result, the radio waves from the positioning information satellite that should be received by the antenna will be absorbed by the magnetic screen if the magnetic screen is close to the antenna, and maintaining good signal reception performance in the antenna can be difficult.
If the electronic timepiece has a ring-shaped (loop) antenna, the gain of the loop antenna will be greatest in the direction from the center of the antenna to where the feed part that receives power from the feed pin is located. Therefore, if a magnetic screen that absorbs signals from a positioning information satellite is disposed close to the feed pin, signals from the positioning information satellite will be absorbed by the magnetic screen in the direction where antenna gain is greatest, and maintaining good signal reception performance in the antenna is difficult.